The Heroes of Redwall: The Return of Zanzuthari Deathhound

[The Skarzs]

Kliegh jabbed a claw toward the unconscious fox in the bushes. "Ice, mostly. Slows 'em down, shocks them; I've even given near-fatal frostbite. It comes in handy. I'm only a beginner at healing, and that's about it."

[AbbotAlf0809]

Davidari led the company through the night towards the sespool of Agutrot when he halt led the party, "Stop! Do you hear that?" He pulled out his sword slowly and keeper the the edge of the wood line, peering into the darkness. Suddenly, a pair of yellow eyes opened and a large weasel jumped out and punched on him. Davi fell back, dropping his sword, and wrestled the weasel off of him. Drawing his cutlass, the weasel lunged at Davidari only to have him draw the dirk from his boot and block the blow.

[Norham Waterpaw]

Wisp lit his paws and latched them on to the back the weasels neck. He used the other hand to cover his mouth, and keep him from screaming. He ripped him off Davidari and threw him to the ground, waiting for Davi's verdict; do we let it live?

[Gonff the Mousethief]

''Ah, there they are. Davi Sah! I have someone who needs to speak to ya!

[Rainshadow]

  Shadow, bow raised and an arrow strung, was sweeping the perimeter, searching for other beasts that may have ill intent.  She first searched low to the ground and, once satisfied, started searching in the trees.  That was before she got tackled.

 At first, the black queen thought she could still loose an arrow into the unknown intruder's midriff, but it turned out that in the process of being attacked, she'd let go of the string, letting the arrow fly into a nearby tree.

 Next, Shadow attempted clawing at her foe's sides until it let go, but the attacker had her pinned down.

 "What are you doing here?" an angry voice hissed.  "Why are you here?"

 "Shade, wait!" another, more familiar voice cried.  "They're friends!"

 Suddenly, the weight on the female's body let up, and she was finally able to see the beast.  As far as she could tell, it was a wildcat, but its face was severely disfigured and mostly hidden in the shadow of a dark hood.

 While Shadow had been trying to determine who the beast may be, another stepped into her vicinity.  A female mouse.

 "Chelonia?" she asked, standing and starting to brush herself off.  "Is that you?"

 The ex-thief ran forward and embraced her friend.  "It's so good to see you, Shadow!  Are the rest of your family here?"

 "Jag is, and so's Davidari and Muchlik.  What are you doing here?  And who's this?"

 Chelonia glanced at the other beasts, not paying much attention to the captured weasel or the new faces.  She smiled at Davidari and waved to Muchlik before turning back to Shadow.  "I was going to Redwall to warn you about a threat in Mossflower.  See, Shade," she gestured to the wildcat, who was still baring her teeth at Shadow, "is a new found friend of mine.  She infiltrated a vermin camp recently, learning that there was a horde that had passed by the day before.  Many of the vermin had joined with the group, only being told that they were going to be rich beyond their wildest dreams.  My thought is that they're going to the abbey.  That may not be true, but..."

 At this point, the hooded vermin turned her back to the females and shuffled slowly into the undergrowth before crouching down and fumbling about for something.

 "What's he doing?" the black she-cat whispered to Chelonia.

 "She," the mousemaid corrected.  "Shade's blind.  She's, ah, searching for her staff.  Got a bit startled when she heard you walking along, and smelled wildcat, so she attacked.  Sorry about that, by the way."

 "No problem."

 "I know you two are talking about me," Shade growled, slowly making her way back to the duo.  "Y'know, you never told me who you were."

 "Oh, sorry, I'm Shadow.  Shadow Wildfire."  Shadow held out a paw in greeting, but the other female didn't accept.  Shortly after, she realized that Shade probably couldn't see her paw.  She took it back.

 The hooded figure seemed to flinch a bit at the name, but didn't say anything.  Instead, she made her way to the other beasts, her sightless eyes glaring at each of them.  Her nose twitched, trying to place the scents with their species, and she finally stopped beside a weasel-smelling one.

 "Who're you?" she demanded, not realizing that he was incapacitated at the moment.

  OOC:  Woot!  Super long post that introduces two characters to the plot and makes sure my two are still alive! 

[AbbotAlf0809]

Davidari embraced the return of the mousemaiden but soon turned to Wisp motioning him to release the weasel. "What is the matter?" He said to the hare, "Any sign of the enemy?"

[Dannflower Reguba]

     Arraka nodded, "Good to know, but we best be headed back, and quickly too lest we raise suspicion." The dark squirrel flew into the trees and made her way to the horde, putting blood on one of her blades and converging on a side so that there would be no questions, she had obviously gone after a straggler.

[Norham Waterpaw]

The weasel let out an estranged gurgle as Wisp took his paw off the back of the weasel. He had some difficulty doing so, the burn had begun to cauterize them together. He loosed his grip on the weasel's mouth, lest he shout.

[The Skarzs]

Kliegh sheathed his blade; he could say he cleaned it off, but he doubted he would be asked as the more worrisome task was actually moving out.
"How long do you think until we reach the abbey?" He asked. "We are quickly running out of time."

[The Shade]

Welkin slunk back into the shadows of the group, annoyed with himself. He felt he had to prove himself among the group, to show he wasn't a waste of space. The wildcat had hesitated to use his powers at an ideal time, when that weasel had attacked Davidari. He wondered if he should leave the group, he wasn't doing anything useful. But no. He was sworn to protect the lands of evil, even if his part was small.


~

Karnac the boar lent back in chair, admiring the pelts of cretures the cavas of the tent was made up of. The Deathhound had been most generous, lending a tent to him and his servants. He sighed. It would be nice to have a mighty horde such as this one day. But he doubted it would be this horde. Deathhound and his associates were no fools. At one time Karnac had reckoned he might be able to outfox the leaders of this great army, but now he knew that was not possible. The forces were too great.

A slow smile rippled across his ravaged features. Evantually they would take Redwall. Finally he could extract his revenge on those wretched creatures. He had waited years for this.

[Leatho Shellhound]

A cloud moved away from the moon, exposing the white silvery light that streamed down on the trees of Mossflower wood.

Muchlik had just recently doubled back down the path to join the main company.

"Mostly clear ahead Davi, only a few press gangs lurking in vegetation. I dealt with one of the larger group, they won't be bothing us any more". He had reported to his brother-in-law.

So after a weasle attack and a wildcat miss-understanding, one of his best friends showed up. And what a pleasant suprise it was after  his rather unpleasant evening of fighting vermin.

She was more bonny than he had remembered. After all she had grow and matured as much as he had in the past year or two.

He now had to admit to him-self that she had indeed been a large part of the reason he had traveled down here in the first place.

He hoped that his helmet's cheek guard hid his blushing face as she waved to him. The white furred mouse plucked up his courage to walk over to her.

Coming to a stop in front over her, he smiled and asked "How have you been". Which on the moments notice was the only thing he could come up with to say.

[AbbotAlf0809]

Davidari looked at Wisp, "Knock him unconscious. We must press onward before the moo is nigh. The enemy is encamped nearby and we NCG discover their location. I suggest we split into teams. Any preferences anyone?"

Zanthar returned to the camp rather gloomy, he walked slowly to his tent and sighed as he entered. He sat in his chair, dismissing his servants, he pulled out an old piece of parchment. It was a small illustration of a young otter-maiden and a young looking fox warrior outside of a fortress. Although the fortress seamed ominous, the fox and otter had their arms around each other. He then sighed heavily.

[Norham Waterpaw]

The weasel gave one last whimper before Wisp delived a swift blow to the back of his neck.
He walked over to where Muchlik and Chelonia were. He offered his paw to shake, but drew it back swiftly. He blew out some fire that was still lit upon his forepaw, and then re-offered it. He tried to smile, but felt terribly awkward trying to interact with someone who seemed nice for once.

[W0NWILL]

OOC: Hey! Really sorry I haven't posted. I'm finding this a bit hard to keep up with. I'll do my best, though.

BIC: Clayclaw raised a claw, "Oi doan't care wurr oi'll be fer ee grupp, But oi'm thinkin' oi kin lukk et ee camp when found, ee proper-loik way. Und mayhap give ee cupple free graves whoile oi at et?"

Dari winged over Mossflower, ecolocation guiding his route. The air was cold, but wonderfully clear, and he could feel the moonlight wonderfully. He didn't know air currents like a bird, being a creature who spent most of its life in caves(he was probably the exception), but he had working knowledge, and knew them well enough to appreciate them when they were good. He suddenly noticed a large group of beasts nearby. An army camp of some sort. Curious, he dropped down a short ways to listen in.

Aaaaaaand that was just his luck. Lassus was captured by vermin again, and this time, there was far too many to cause a petty squabble in, and escape unnoticed. It was a veritable army, and he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

[Rainshadow]

  "How have you been?"

  Chelonia thought about this for a second, wondering if she should reply honestly or with the usual response of "Fine".  She decided on honesty.  "Um, a bit tired and overwhelmed, but Shade's been able to take some of the weight off my shoulders as of recently, so that's really nice."

  Shade's ears perked up and she turned her head, asking, "What?  Did you say my name?"

  "Oh, nothing," the mousemaid replied.

  Jag walked slowly up to the blind she-cat and cleared his throat, announcing that he was next to her.  "I'm Jag," he stated with a slightly forced smile.  "So... er, you known Chelonia for awhile?"

  Shade shrugged, still trying to figure out why the weasel scent smelled burnt.  "Few seasons, not very long."  Then she fell back into silence.

  This is awkward, the white tom thought to himself.  He again cleared his throat and nodded good day to Shade, then started back towards his wife.  So much for friendly conversation.